CWC 2019: ENG vs IND Preview: Hosts face uphill task to stay alive

Bruised, battered, humiliated – England are spiralling down faster than they’d have imagined. The pressure of being World Cup favourites clearly got to them in their last two matches as they suffered shock defeats against Sri Lanka and Australia. Add to that, contrasting statements from players within the team has only added fuel to the fire. Now as their qualification hope hangs by a thread, they must win their remaining two games without complaining about the pitches. Eoin Morgan’s men will also hope there are no surprises from the other teams still vying for a spot in the Top 4. But, it’s going to take the hosts a lot more than showing up against an in-form Indian team, who will be sporting their new away jersey on Sunday.

The only side to remain unbeaten in the World Cup so far, India outplayed each of their opponents and also brushed aside a minor scare from Afghanistan. Most importantly, their two-pronged pace and spin attacks have worked in perfect sync. A win in this game will all but confirm their semi-final berth. England haven’t beaten India in a World Cup game in 27 years. They have also now slipped to second place in the ICC ODI Rankings, conceding the No.1 spot to none other than India. The hosts can expect India to have an off day, but they will also have to play out of their skins to rewrite history. Another loss here will leave them on the brink of exit.

Match Info

England vs India, 38th Match

Edgbaston, Birmingham (03:00 PM IST)

Pace, turn, bounce – in the last World Cup fixture at this venue, Pakistan and New Zealand cooked up a thriller of a game on a lively pitch. If the same wicket is served for this crucial encounter, expect another humdinger.

India v England will be played on the second strip from left, leaving one boundary considerably shorter than the other. Useful to have left-right batting combination to exploit fullest. #CWC19 #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/4lTRHLpkwd

— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) June 29, 2019

Head-to-Head

The head-to-head numbers between England and India are even. Of the 7 matches played in World Cups, both sides have 3 wins each with one game ending in a tie.

Team News

England

England’s dashing opener Jason Roy is reportedly set to return from injury for this all-important clash. In his absence, both Jonny Bairstow and England have been struggling to get flying starts. His return at the top will straightaway send an unimpressive James Vince back to the bench. England do not have any other specialist batsman in the squad. They are also sweating on Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid’s fitness, who were carrying niggling injuries in their last game. With 16 wickets, Archer is their leading wicket-taker this World Cup, and his absence could prove to be disastrous for England.

India

Mohammed Shami’s sensational swing bowling has left Virat Kohli with a happy headache. If and when Bhuvneshwar Kumar is fully fit, picking one over the other will be a tough choice to make. But for now, Team India will persist with Shami who’s in red-hot form. The ploy of playing two spinners has worked very well and that’s likely to be untouched. Vijay Shankar is yet to make a noteworthy contribution with bat and ball, but Kohli is likely to back the winning combination. However, India’s middle order will have to better their batting approach against a fiery English bowling line-up.

Key Players

Joe Root (England): England’s Mr. Consistent, Joe Root has been batting exceptionally in the World Cup, scoring 52.12% of his boundaries through the fine leg region. In 7 matches, he has scored 432 runs at an average of 72. With 3 fifties and 2 hundreds already, Root could prove to be the danger-man for India.

Virat Kohli (India): It would appear that India’s best batsman is having a quiet tournament. And that’s probably because he didn’t get the first century of the team. Kohli has scored 4 fifties in 5 matches and has batted at an average of 63 in the World Cup. He’s one knock away from a match-defining ton and that should be reason enough to scare the Englishmen.

Probable XI

England: J Roy/J Vince, J Bairstow, J Root, E Morgan (c), B Stokes, J Buttler (wk), C Woakes, M Ali, A Rashid/L Dawson, J Archer/L Plunkett, M Wood

India: KL Rahul, R Sharma, V Kohli (c), V Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), K Jadhav, H Pandya, M Shami, K Yadav, Y Chahal, J Bumrah

Stat Attack

• Virat Kohli needs 73 runs to score 1000 runs in 2019 and 97 runs to score 1000 runs in the World Cup
• Yuzvendra Chahal (26 wickets) and Kuldeep Yadav (24 wickets) top the list of highest wicket-takers in 2019 for spinners
• Eoin Morgan is 16 short of scoring 500 World Cup runs. If he does, he will become the 8th Englishman to do so. He already has the most runs in World Cups as an English captain.